Stitch
by Subai-chan
Summary: No, not the little blue alien dude. Stitch is all by herself...until Sora comes along. What will become of her in the unfamiliar worlds? Read and find out! My first work outside of DNAngel fiction!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone! I'm back with a vengeance, a new category, strengthened resolve, and a brand new penname! A couple of quick notes before I start this fic…First, this chapter may not seem very fanfic-ish. That's because I didn't want to jump right into the action. I do have method to the madness! Second, please don't badger me about my other fics. I discontinued We Are the Transfer, and am thinking about doing the same for Midnight's Curse. Third, I am actually considering adding a bonus chapter to Everything You Want, but I might need a few weeks to think about what should happen. I like it the way it is. Bonus chapter would just be a gift for my loyal readers.

**Mild violence warnings**. Anywho, that's enough of my babbling. Without further ado, here is chapter one to my newest fanfic!

_**Stitch**_

_By Axel's Stalker_

**Chapter 1**

Most stories may start out with a few typical things--hello, once upon a time, this little princess, the happy elf, etc, etc. Well, this story doesn't go that way. This story starts out with something a bit less cheerful and a bit more dismal. You may not want to hear it. But I need to tell it, so don't cry. If you're going to cry, you may as well leave now. This story is different.

"Why aren't you in here, kid?" A slurred, familiar voice echoed through the halls of a small run-down apartment building and into my room. I cringed, closing my eyes and curling up into a tighter ball. It smelled like wet feet and ancient cheez-its under my bed, and I was too used to it to care.

The door slammed open and I watched quietly as a pair of bare feet stumbled over the orangeish-yellow carpet, feeling the mattress sink a little as a hand rested on it for support. "Kid, I know you're in here." My mother hiccupped, the mattress lifting back to its normal state as she stumbled over to the closet and flung open the door. "Where's my fucking coffee?" She continued on, ranting and raving to me even though I wasn't around.

I curled up even tighter and held back a whimper. She never had the energy to stoop down and look under the bed, and I hoped today wouldn't be any different.

It wasn't.

With a curse and a few other muttered things, she left the room and slammed the door behind her. I caught, "Fine, I'll make my own coffee, but you'd better hope I don't find you!"

She wouldn't.

As soon as her footsteps faded from my hearing range, I crawled out from under the bed and tip-toed to my closet. There were many advantages to being small; for example, fitting wonderfully under my bed and being able to go into a kind of stealth mode. Opening the closet door, I yanked a small travel bag out of the mess and shoved some old shirts and baggy jeans that had been my brother's into it. No idea where I would go, but really anywhere was better than this place.

My mother would be out, more than likely, after her little outburst. I knew she always went to get vodka after her coffee. With this knowledge in mind, I pulled the strap of the travel bag over my shoulder and strode lightly out of the room. Drawing in a sharp breath, I whirled around and raced back in, curling my arms around a small doll of a creature with a big red nose, its eyes closed, and a red pompom on its head. Holding it close to my chest, I turned back around and headed for the hallway.

As I opened the only door standing between myself and the outside world, my cheek stung horribly and I stumbled backwards. It stung so that I had tears in my eyes and I held even tighter to the soft toy.

"And where the hell do you think you're going, brat?" My mother snarled, glaring at me through her bloodshot eyes. I closed my own eyes tightly and refused to look up at her. I was so close, if only I could speak. But I had learned when I was young that children were not meant to be heard. I had been silent so long, I wasn't even sure if I remembered how to speak. So I said nothing.

"You've got things to do." She continued, advancing into the kitchen and causing me to trip over myself in my hurry to back up. "Go and make my coffee, dammit, and then you can clean up the guest room. I'm havin' company tonight."

I finally opened my eyes to see a bottle of Captain Morgan's spiced rum in her fist, open and half-empty. I knew who company was. "Company" was her new boyfriend, who hated me just as much as she did. I would say more, but no one could despise me to her level.

As she continued to go on and on about her boyfriend and how I never did anything she told me to do and how I was useless and worthless and just overall nothing in her life or anyone else's, I'm not entirely sure what was happening inside me. Somewhere, something cracked. I shot a miserable glare up at her and shook my head fiercely, all I could do to disagree. I wished so badly that I could have shouted at her, swore at her; told her to do it herself and leave me alone. But I just shook my head and stomped my foot to say that I'd had enough.

She knew what I meant well enough. Her eyes grew wild and she threw the bottle to the floor, letting it shatter loudly. "You gonna defy me, bitch?" She snarled, shoving me to the floor. Being only 82 pounds or so, I fell rather quickly, but scrambled back onto my feet. Another advantage to being so small was that I was faster than her.

Without thinking my plan through first, I yanked open one of the drawers in the kitchen and pulled out the sharpest steak knife I could find. No one around this neighborhood was very organized, and we weren't an exception, but somehow I found one sharp enough to break skin. Whirling around, I felt a blazing-hot pain from my left cheek under my eye almost all the way to my temple. Holding back tears that I knew would only enflame the gash, I thrust my own knife into her arm and pulled it back out as I ran out the door, bloodied steak knife in hand.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Since this chapter delves into the world of I-don't-own-anything, let me just point out that I don't own anything. Kingdom Hearts and all characters associated with it are copyright Square Enix and Disney. The girl telling the story is mine. I don't plan on going over the line of Mary-Sueism, not that I ever have, and in fact I'm trying to stay away from it. This is next to impossible in my line of work.

Thanks to the person who reviewed! (I.E., The Pursuit of Shiney Things...) Here's the next chapter! --**Axel's Stalker**

**Chapter 2 **

Are you still reading? There's more to tell, if you're willing to listen.

By the time I made it out of that neighborhood I felt weak, but I wouldn't let myself stop moving. I cuddled closely to my moogle toy, being careful not to let blood drip onto it, and forced my body to move forward and up an old driveway that hadn't been used in years. I felt my breath growing heavy and slowed down just a little, stumbling to get behind a two-story, run-down house that had been long-since abandoned.

With my back pressed against the building, I slid down in the tall grass and tried to catch my breath. My cheek was throbbing dully, dripping sticky blood onto my shirt. I readjusted the thick, black headband set behind my bangs, ran a hand through my neck-length silvery hair, and slid the travel bag heavily off my shoulder. The steak knife that I had used to impale my mother's arm was in my other hand, and I was holding onto it with a death grip. I finally let it fall amongst the weeds.

I had really done it. I'd run away.

But the question was….now what?

As soon as I got my breath back, I forced myself to stand up on shaky feet and turned around, pressing my hands against the wall of the house. It was all made of wood, and as I rapped on it I found that it was very thin in spots. Probably from years of being abandoned and deteriorating. But whatever the case, I took up the knife and searched for the weakest spot before plunging the blade into the wall. The wood gave way without hesitation and I sighed in relief, working at sawing a hole in the wall that I could fit through. It didn't have to be very big, just big enough.

About half an hour later, (I wasn't sure; I didn't wear a watch,) the hole was made and I was dropping my bag through it. I wondered, would I need the knife? But then I thought that I'd have to eat, so yes, I would. So I dropped it through as well, before clutching my moogle bear and sticking my feet through first. My one-size-too-big Etnies slid a little, on what I could only guess was bat guano and other nasty things, but I made it through without much trouble.

When I turned around to pick up my bag, I drew in a sharp breath and backed against the hole in the wall. In the middle of the cold room, with no furniture and only a bunch of tools before the concrete steps, (it must've been a garage,) a disk was hovering a foot or so off the floor. Not only was it hovering, but it was emitting a soft silvery glow the likes of which I'd never seen. How on Earth had I missed it when I made the hole?

Whatever it was, it didn't seem to be moving towards me or away from me, so I concluded that it wasn't alive. But it was terrifyingly strange, in comparison to everything I normally had to look at. I held the toy in a death grip and a stinging in my cheek reminded me that after that, nothing else should scare me. So I took a quivering step closer to the disk.

A few steps more and I realized that a picture was showing from the flat surface that I could see. Now I was curious.

Leaning over the disk, I got a closer look at the image. It was of a dark city, with tall buildings and rain pounding down, and lights everywhere. It was hard to describe any more than that, but it was amazing to look at. I thought of how I wished I were there, in that world. It would be so much better than here, and how I longed for it. And as I stood there with the travel bag over my shoulder and my moogle bear in my arms, wishing that I could go to that place and stay there forever, a searing migraine pulsed through my head. It was so horrible that I felt myself losing control, losing consciousness. The pain in my cheek faded, and the world around me went with it.

"Hey, I think she's waking up!"

"Donald, don't move her! She might be hurt!"

"Knock it off, you two!"

My head was pounding, and I heard voices. That was all I knew. I didn't want to open my eyes, but my curiosity was getting the best of me. Groaning in discomfort, the one kind of noise I could make, I opened my eyes and nearly jumped out of my skin. Standing over me was a boy with sky blue eyes and spiky brown hair, wearing black clothes and smiling at me.

I ignored my body, which was cursing in pain, and scrambled up as fast as I could. I pressed myself against something behind me, not even glancing up and not having to in order to see that it was a building. Swallowing down whatever fear I could, I took quick note that the boy was at least four or five inches taller than me. And he was moving towards me.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked softly, a tone I hadn't heard in years. "We need to get that cut on your face taken care of."

My cheek stung lightly at being mentioned and I closed my eyes tight, shaking my head 'no.' I didn't want him to touch me, or come near me for that matter. I wanted to tell him that, but without trying I knew I couldn't.

He took another step towards me and held out a hand. I winced. "My name's Sora. What's yours?" He asked. He was trying so hard to sound nice and sweet, and I wondered whether he was truly sincere about it or just covering up for himself.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly opened my eyes and almost jumped a little at how close he was. Seeing me jump, he took a step back and smiled again.

"It's okay. We're your friends!" He assured, nodding towards the two behind him. "He's Donald, and that's Goofy." Turning back to me, he repeated, "What's your name?"

Blinking a moment and then gazing down at my feet, I shook my head. My mother had never really called me anything, other than all those vulgar names. I wasn't even sure if she'd given me a proper name. Cuddling closer to my moogle bear, I felt it _move_; it squirmed against the tight grip I had on it and I immediately let it go, watching in amazement and horror as it flapped its little purple plush wings—which weren't plush anymore, but real—and hovered in the air, brushing itself off.

"No offense, kupo, but you almost strangled me, kupo!" It sighed gratefully, twitching its nose and fluffing the pompom on its head.

I stared at it for a moment, holding back tears of confusion and frustration and sliding down against the huge skyscraper like I had done with the abandoned house. There was nothing more I could do, considering I couldn't voice my opinion. I curled up into a tight ball and cried.

**Author:** Sooo...lemme know what you think! I did mention this WAS fanfiction, didn't I? -laughs- Review, huh? Later!


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** Welcome back, all who are still with me on this wild ride that is fanfiction writing!

Let's see….I'm leafing through this book to see if my name is under the credits for Kingdom Hearts 2….and…nope, I can't find it anywhere! Must be I don't own it! (Hops onto the logic train.) Not to mention, if I was the genius who thought up KH, would I be sitting at this computer desk typing a fic in desperate hope of getting some good reviews? To answer a question, there's a REASON I'm writing this in first-person! It's for the sake of working on description, less on dialogue! Though, that kinda goes out the window and off a cliff once I start putting new characters in. Shit. Oh, well. Enjoy!

**Chapter 3**

The tears stung my cut, and the rain was cold like ice. I wished I could talk.

Where am I? Why is my moogle-bear flying and talking? Who _are_ you three? I wanted to ask. I wanted to know. And I wanted the pain in my cheek to go away.

"Hey, are you lost or something?" That boy, who had called himself Sora. He was talking to me again. Asking me questions I couldn't answer.

I peeked at him over the top of my arms. He was kneeling in front of me, just…looking. I reached up and adjusted my hair band.

The small voice of the moogle chimed in. "She doesn't talk, kupo. Never has."

So he really _was_ my moogle-bear, at some point in time. He knew me.

I glanced up at the floating moogle urgently: HE could be my voice! Pushing myself to my feet so fast I felt lightheaded, I took hold of his foot. He squeaked in slight protest, until he looked down and nodded, the pompom on his head bouncing a little.

He looked back at Sora, who had also gotten up. "She wants me to speak for her, kupo."

Sora rolled his sky blue eyes heavenwards thoughtfully, droplets of rain dripping from the tips of his spiky brown hair. I watched with interest; I didn't know why, but he reminded me of someone I had never met before.

"Okay…How about a name?" He finally asked, looking back at the moogle and me.

Clearing his throat, the moogle said, "My name is Kupo, kupo. No witty comments please, kupo."

Sora shook his head. "No, I meant…_her_ name." He smiled a little at me, still trying so hard to be nice. I still didn't understand why he would bother.

Kupo looked at me expectantly. I swallowed. Name? My mother had never given me a real name…besides those vulgar things she called me. Were those things my name? Could they be? I shook my head a little, confused again. Still, it would have felt nice to be able to have a name people would actually use. Maybe I could come up with one.

"She doesn't have one, kupo." Kupo announced, as if he could read my mind. I was starting to wonder if he could. I tugged on his foot again and he glanced at me. "But I think she knows what she wants you to call her, kupo."

Sora looked at me questioningly and I nodded, drawing his attention to my arm with a pointing gesture. I traced the scar there leftover from stitches I had gotten way back when, drawing the invisible stitch-lines that had been there. I knew very well what I wanted him to know me as, because I knew very well what my name would be if I could choose it.

He looked confused, so I sighed and lifted my shirt a little, not past my midriff. He seemed shocked that he could easily have traced my ribs with his fingertips, but I wanted him to see the fresh stitches near my navel. They were due to come out in a few days, and I wondered vaguely how I would manage that. But he seemed to understand.

"Stitch, right?" He wondered aloud. I smiled for the first time in a long time and nodded. I tried to shape the word with my voice, but hard as I tried it refused to come out. "Don't worry, I'll teach you how to talk if you want." He assured, smiling back at me. I nodded again.

Kupo laughed a little. "I haven't seen her this happy since, kupo….well, never, kupo." He told Sora, whose eyes went wide for a moment as if he couldn't believe it.

"Where do you come from, anyways?" He asked, stealing a glance at me before looking up at the moogle.

Chicago, I wanted to say. Or an area just outside of Chicago. I could guarantee that Kupo couldn't answer that one. But that wonderful moogle, he tried.

"Chick-Ago…I believe, kupo." He replied, pronouncing the city wrong. I giggled a little.

Sora looked back at me. "Well, if you're gonna stay here, then let's get that cut cleaned up first. It'll just take a minute." He assured, glancing back at one of his friends. The one he waved over was shorter than me, and looked very much like a duck I had seen floating in a small pond behind the old abandoned house. He differed, however, because he was clothed and had hands instead of wings. He waddled up with a staff of some kind in his right hand, and when he spoke I could barely make out a word of it.

"Donald, can you use your cure spell on that cut?" Sora asked him, waving briefly towards my cheek. I ran my fingers over the wound, feeling dried blood already around the edges of it. Cure spell? Magic couldn't really happen…could it? I looked up at Kupo hopefully, but he was busying himself with a strange shard that he'd found.

The duck, who apparently was named Donald, whispered something in that voice that I couldn't understand at all to Sora, who obviously understood every word. He must have caught me staring in confusion, because he looked up a little and smiled at me again. I felt my cheeks start to burn, but not from the cut this time. They felt hot…was I blushing? When he blinked, I looked determinedly at the ground. It was made of tar.

Donald cried something out and my wound started to tingle. I didn't like the feeling, and as I raised my hand to rub the tingling spot my fingers felt no cut. I looked at my fingers, which had no fresh blood on them, and brushed the spot where the cut had been. It was as smooth as it had been that morning, before any of this happened.

I wasn't sure how to thank the duck, so I smiled as best I could at him. He said something that sounded like "you're welcome," but again, I wasn't entirely sure.

Sora's other friend laughed a strange little sort of laugh. "Gawrsh, Donald, your magic sure has gotten better, huh?" He observed.

At the look on my face as I stared at the odd person—dog—I couldn't decide what he was, Sora grinned. "That's Goofy. You don't need to be afraid of him, okay?" I nodded and he slung a strange blade over his shoulders that looked like a huge key. "Well then, er, Stitch…You'd better come with us. We know our way around."

I glanced at Kupo, who tucked the shard away in a pocket I didn't know he had, and nodded. What a strange day…

**Author:** Well...erm...there's chapter three...I hope you found it interesting...cuz it was a pain in the ass to write. Chapter five, once we get to it, was my favorite one to write. I revised it like ten million times, so it ended up pretty good. I'm stuck on chapter six, though...Aaaaanyways, that's enough of me. Read and review! Toodles! --**_Axel's Stalker_**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** You'll have to forgive that the chapters are so short. This one is, so far, the longest…I'll try to make chapter 5 longer. It's in the works…I've actually got horrible writer's block. Let's hope it clears up.

Usual disclaimers, blah, blah, blah…Warnings of the random thoughts that wander around in Stitch's twisted little mind. She's like the skinny, silver-haired, non-talking reincarnation of ME. Sort of. Thanks to all who reviewed! Let's get this stone rollin'!

**Chapter 4**

Midday came and went, and the day just seemed to get weirder by the second. Sora was using his weird key-like thing as a weapon, destroying big crickets made of nothing but blackness. Donald kept using spells and Goofy fought with a shield, and even though the creatures came for me a few times, Sora got them before I could even think about defending myself. He had an oddly strong sense of right and wrong, for a fifteen year old boy. (He had told me how old he was when Kupo had asked him. Luckily Kupo also knew how old I was and was able to answer when Sora asked.) He was a strange person, in a way that's difficult to explain, but he was nice to me and kept his promise about teaching me to talk.

After a particularly large swarm of the dark creatures, (Goofy called them the Heartless,) Sora vouched that the three of them take a break before heading off to—I don't remember what he called the place. Something about a garden. So they all sat down, and I followed suit, watching as Kupo sorted out a bunch of different shards, gems, and crystals. He was muttering to himself and I didn't catch anything he said.

"Okay Stitch, let's try this again…" Sora turned to me and I looked up knowingly. His eyes were a very nice shade of blue, I remember thinking vaguely…I'd been doing a lot of vague thinking in the last few hours, and it was very much out-of-character for me. He continued. "Something easy…How about, 'moogle'?"

I thought for a second, mouthing the word, trying to get a good grip on it. Two syllables and God only knows how many letters…Moogle. I looked over at Kupo again.

"Stitch?" Sora reminded me that he was there and I glanced at him. I knew I couldn't do it, but I really wanted to try.

"Mmm…" I knew how to hum, but talking was totally different. Humming always had an 'm' at the beginning, just like 'moogle.' It shouldn't have been as hard as it was…everyone around me had always known how to talk. "Mmmoo…" That was what a cow sounded like, if I remembered right. My school had taken a trip to a farm when I was in second grade, and there had been lots of cows there. Why did these odd thoughts keep coming up?

The spiky-haired boy was watching me intently, eyes so blue I almost choked. Something was wrong with me, and I knew it very well, but I wasn't sure what. I was supposed to be talking, or attempting it. That's why he was looking at me, I knew that, but I forgot completely what I was supposed to be saying, so all that came out was a squeak—like I had choked. He sighed a little and I looked away, cheeks feeling warm again.

"Well…would you rather start with something easier?" He offered.

I shook my head. I didn't want to mess up again. Back in Chicago, I always got in big trouble when I messed up. I wasn't surprised at all when Kupo explained that to Sora, but it threw my theory that he could read my mind into sharp relief.

After a moment, Sora got up. "Alright guys, we should probably get back to the Radiant Garden. Maybe Leon or Merlin can help her out." He announced, offering me his hand before I could get up on my own.

I flinched a little on instinct, as though in my subconscious I thought he might hit me. But when I looked up he smiled reassuringly, and I hesitantly laid my fingers in his palm. He pulled me to my feet easily.

"Man, you don't weigh much, do you?" He commented, making me blush _again_—I was getting awfully sick of it—and stare at the ground. "Hey, I didn't mean anything bad by that…but it can't be healthy to be as skinny as you are. We should fix that, too."

I shrugged a little; I had never weighed much, even if I did eat. High metabolism ran in my family and I moved around so much that it just went too fast for my eating habits.

He nodded at Kupo. "C'mon, the ship's ready to go." He pulled me along behind him as he went, despite my resisting. I didn't like ships; they made me sick. I looked up at Kupo urgently as he flew along beside us.

"Wait just a second, kupo!" The moogle cried when he caught my glance. I sighed in relief when Sora stopped, even if I did run into him by accident.

The boy looked up at Kupo as I caught my breath. "What? We've gotta get going!" He urged.

Kupo glanced at me, and then back at Sora. "Listen, kupo. Stitch doesn't understand about your gummi ship, kupo, so you'd do well to explain it before you just drag us onto it, kupo."

Sora glanced at me and I nodded to confirm what my "voice" was saying. I imagined that "gummi" was just a word…maybe that was the name of the ship? But when he smiled again and I almost—_almost_—blushed again, he explained everything. Apparently a gummi ship was like a rocket ship, and it was how they traveled to other places. There was no other way to get to the Radiant Garden place he kept bringing up.

The ship was a little scary at first, but I discovered that as long as I just didn't look out the window I was fine. I watched Kupo clean his shiny things.

He looked up at me from time to time and told me all about each and every one of his treasures. He told me they could be made into different things when synthesized together, and he said he'd make me a cosmic charm out of all the items he'd collected. I smiled and leaned my head against the ship wall, closing my eyes. It had been a l-o-n-g day.

"Stitch…? Stitch, wake up!"

Someone was shaking my shoulder and calling to me, and instinctively I opened my eyes and shot to my feet as though I hadn't been sleeping at all. When I spotted Sora holding up his hands for protection, I relaxed a little. Kupo laughed.

"Sorry, that was…my fault." Sora apologized, pointing behind him. "But we're here."

I looked around at the scenery, expecting to see my mother out there somewhere. Instead, it was like something out of a fairytale. I was wondering if Kupo had been able to tell if I was trying to ask where we where.

"I'm sure, kupo that Stitch is trying to ask where we are exactly, kupo." Kupo said as he floated towards another one of those small gems he was collecting. I wondered what he was collecting them for, but that wasn't a question that Kupo would answer.

Sora looked from me to Kupo and then back to me. "We came here to see if a couple of friends could help us out." Sora said as he reached out his glove covered hand to help me out of the gummi ship.

I was pulled upward quickly and as I was being pulled I had visions of my mother in one of her moods and forcing me to do her meaningless things for her and her friends. I started to feel like I was back home. I had started to feel warm and then my sight became blurry. I knew what was going on because this happened often at my home in Chicago. I was going to black out.

When I awoke, I could hear voices. I could only recognize three of them. I was quick to get up because I didn't recognize my new surroundings.

Scanning everything around me, I caught sight of a computer with a flat screen against one wall and the keyboard jutting out from said wall. The small house was a mess, with books everywhere and an unmade bed, but there was a fireplace that made it seem cozy. I backed up into a corner and sat down beside a pile of books, looking at the five people whom I didn't recognize. Kupo rested on the books.

"Everyone, kupo, this is Stitch." He announced, causing all five of them to look at me. I shrunk down a bit.

There were two girls and two men, plus one old man with a very long beard. One of the men was sitting at the big computer with a toothpick hanging out of one side of his mouth; his hair was short and blonde, like the stubble on his chin, and he had goggles on top of his head. He had one arm resting on the back of his chair, the other one on his leg. The other man had shoulder-length dark brown hair and a scar across the bridge of his nose. His arms were folded over a chain around his neck that had a lion's head as a pendant.

"Stitch, huh? That's an interesting name." The scarred man chuckled a little, his dark blue eyes watching me intently. It was incredibly uncomfortable.

The blonde man spoke up. "Bit scrawny, ain't she?"

I felt my cheeks going hot, but not in the way they did when Sora smiled at me. Suddenly I looked all around urgently. Where was Sora? I remembered hearing his voice when I first woke up, but he wasn't anywhere in the house. I felt tears come to my eyes at the thought that he had really left me here, left me behind.

"Now, now…be nice to her, Cid." The girl with braided brown hair scolded him, smiling warmly at me. She had a pink bow holding the braid in place, and her dress was also pink. She kneeled down in front of me. "Don't mind Cid. He's nice, really. My name's Aerith!" She greeted.

I hugged my knees and nodded a little to show her that I acknowledged, and I appreciated her kindness, but it didn't matter anymore. I was in this strange world, alone save for Kupo.

The other girl, with short black hair and a headband around her forehead, stepped up beside Aerith. She smiled just as sweetly. "And Leon's just a big baby." She announced, Motioning to the man with the scar. He rolled his eyes. "I'm the great ninja Yuffie. It's nice to meet you, Stitch!"

I wiped the heel of my hand over the tear that had just rolled down my cheek. Only one word echoed in my mind, one word that I wanted so badly to say. I mouthed it against my jeans.

"Sss…Sssoo…rrrraaa…" I tried not to think too hard about it this time, because if I did that then I would lose my focus. I knew what I wanted to say, and I was going to say it if it killed me. "So…ra…Sora!" My own voice surprised me, even if it was a little hoarse from not being used in fourteen years. It sounded amazingly older than I really was, maybe by a year or two. But I had done it, I had spoken, and despite myself I was excited about it.

Yuffie and Aerith both took a step back. "Wait a sec; I thought Sora told us that she couldn't talk!" The ninja girl stammered, obviously just as surprised as me.

Aerith smiled again. "Won't he be surprised, then!"

I blinked. So he really hadn't left me behind? "Sora?" I asked, looking over at Leon and Cid.

Leon nodded. "Yeah, he just went to clear the town of Heartless. He asked us to look after you for a little bit." He explained.

My heart instantly came out of my stomach and I couldn't help but smile. He hadn't left me; he really was going to stay with me a little longer. I'd never been this happy before.

**Author:** Yaaaaay, she said her first word! I'm so proud!! (Clears throat.) Um, right. Okay, honestly, who didn't see that coming? Am I the only one who knew her first word was gonna be Sora? Huh? Glad all my readers like it thus far, and I came up with the name Kupo for that moogle because I thought no one had used that name before.

Then I went to the Underworld in KH2 and talked to the moogle there. Guess what? His name was Kupo. Damn. Anywho, I'll keep posting if you keep reviewing! Toodles!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Well minna, we've made it through four chapters already! That's pretty damn good, when you think about it….I'm really having issues with this chapter, though; it's not what I want it to be. I will probably end up replacing it many, many, many, many, _MANY_ times before I'm satisfied…But I hope you guys like it! If there are any changes you suggest I make, please feel free to do so. Critique and help are always welcome!

Also, Chapter six is going to be severely delayed due to a horrible case of writer's block. I WILL NOT LET THIS STORY DIE!!! I love Stitch as much as you guys do, so she will continue her adventures! Or...something like that. See, I have ideas for later chapters, but it's the simple matter of GETTING that far. Transitions are not my strongpoint. Ideas are always welcome!

Have fun with this chapter; I sure didn't. --**Axel's Stalker**

**Chapter 5**

I couldn't help but keep thinking that I had done it; I had spoken for the first time in 14 years. Everyone around me, all the people there who knew my new-found friend had witnessed something I thought would never happen in my entire life! I got antsy wondering when Sora would be back; I wanted so badly to tell him of my feat, to show him that I could really talk. I sat on the table in the old house, which Yuffie told me belonged to the old wizard named Merlin. I was surprised that this didn't scare me, but I'd never felt more happy than I was then.

Cid kept staring at me out of the corner of his eye. It didn't bother me all that much. "Geez kid, someone might think you just discovered the cure for polio or somethin'!" He chuckled, making me smile. Kupo hovered up and sat on my shoulder.

"I've never seen you like this before, kupo. It's…interesting." He observed, jumping a little when I kissed his big red nose. "Kupo!!!" He squealed, flapping his little wings furiously and flitting off to sit on top of Merlin's desk. Despite myself, I giggled at his reaction. He was such a funny little moogle, especially now that he was alive instead of just a plush toy. Yuffie and Aerith had told me that there were a bunch of moogles around the Radiant Garden, with names like Mog and such. They ran something called "synthesis shops," and sold gems and shards like Kupo was collecting.

As the minutes dragged on, I started getting curious. There were books everywhere—on the floor, on the table, on the bed, around the fireplace—and there was a book sitting on a table in the corner that had a picture of a boy and a little yellowish stuffed bear on the cover. Upon closer inspection, the boy looked a lot like Sora. When I pointed it out to Yuffie, she smiled and said, "Yep, that's our Sora!"

I wanted to open the book and read some of it, but Merlin wouldn't let me. Something about the Hundred Acre Wood and me getting sucked into it.

Still, curiosity drove me to explore the rest of the small house. There was a chalkboard covered in scribbles and other things, drawings, plans, all kinds of things. There was a poster on one wall that had a grand-looking castle on it, under which the words "_Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee_" were written. At the town name, I glanced at Aerith, putting on the best puzzled look I could to try and ask about it. She must've picked up on it.

"Hollow Bastion is what we used to call this town, before we got rid of a huge mass of Heartless. Since then, we gave it back its original name, which it's called by now. Radiant Garden; get it?" She explained, smiling. Oddly enough, I did understand. (Though I still didn't know what exactly the Heartless things were.)

As I was just starting to wonder how Leon got the scar on his face, the big wooden door swung open and the man in question greeted the three who were entering. "Those Heartless cleared out, Sora?" He inquired.

I glanced over and smiled at the spiky-haired boy who had his Keyblade slung over his shoulders. "Yep! You won't be having troubles with them for awhile." He assured. Kupo hovered off of the desk and over to him.

"Sora, kupo, you'll never belie—" He began, but I wanted to be the one to tell my feat.

"Sora!" I blurted, stepping in front of him and smiling a little. He blinked, his sky blue eyes widening. I almost felt like hugging him, I was so excited—but something stopped me. It must've been that the only person in my life who had ever hugged me was my brother, and he had left before I was three. I felt it was improper or just plain wrong. But it didn't keep me from smiling at the look on his face.

"Stitch, you can really talk! I thought…" He seemed to search for the right thing to say.

I glanced at Aerith and Yuffie, as the latter was almost as excited as me. "She said it when you were gone! I guess she must've not understood that you were gonna come back," at this, I felt my cheeks go pink from embarrassment, "because she just said your name."

Sora looked from the ninja girl, to Cid and Leon, and back to me. I nodded, biting my lower lip and gazing at the floor. Maybe he wasn't as interested as I'd thought, but would he say if he wasn't? Instantly my thoughts turned dark and upsetting as the possibilities wandered through my mind. He had never wanted me to talk in the first place; it applied back to what my mother had always said, that I wasn't meant to be heard. Or now that I could talk, he didn't like it much, or…

"That's great! Now we can teach you more, maybe full sentences!" The teenage boy was smiling when I looked back up at him, his eyes sparkling with excitement. He pointed at himself and said, "C'mon Stitch, let's hear it!"

I let a small, hesitant smile flash his way. "Sora!" I stated, giggling when Kupo's big red pompom brushed against my cheek. He had landed on my shoulder again. Any dark ideas I might have had were swept to the back of my mind as I stood there, smiling, watching my new friends and the boy having a wonderful time. It felt different, like nothing I'd ever known before. It felt like home.

**Author:** Well, this is the chapter before the writer's block set in. Like I said multiple times up top, HELP IS ALWAYS WELCOME. Ideas, critique, improvement techniques, ANYTHING. I'm getting a little desperate here...Anywho.

Winter Carnival Queen Pageant countdown: 2 WEEKS. God, it's nerve-wracking.

R&R, please! Ciao!


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